What are Warm Wishes? Winter Holiday Backpack Donations packed by Volunteers for Homeless in Marin County and Bay Area

What is Warm Wishes? 

Warm Wishes is nonprofit distributing warm clothing items to San Francisco Bay Area homeless. Warm Wishes is a MarinLink project founded by Bill Hamm.

Mission

Warm Wishes creates a personal relationship between our volunteers and the street community when once a year volunteers distribute 5,000 “StreetPacks” or backpacks stuffed with new, warm gloves, scarves, hats, wool socks and rain ponchos to homeless men and women and children, living on the streets of the Bay Area. The winter accessories, manufactured under the direction of and funded by Warm Wishes, help them survive the difficult weather months.
One of the most valued pieces in each StreetPack is the heart-warming, personal holiday card hand-written by one of 5,000 Bay Area children.

Join Founder Bill Hamm on Distribution Day for this year on Saturday, December 1, 2012 8:00am. Volunteers, including families and their children, meet at Unity in Marin (Novato) and within two hours assemble the StreetPacks. They then take to the road to personally distribute the packs to the Bay Area homeless. The purpose is for the homeless people to stay warm; perhaps to save a life. But Warm Wishes purpose is for volunteers to reap the rewards of looking into the eyes of a stranger, of coming closer to understanding his or her plight, and filling with the feeling of doing good for others.

This year Warm Wishes is requesting donations at the door on Distribution Day to offset the cost of the items for the homeless. Suggested donation is $10.00 for adults (children FREE) but please be as generous as you can. Warm Wishes is committed to providing NEW items that are purchased specifically for this population and need your support.

Volunteer on Warm Wishes Assembly & Distribution Day 

Come one, come all and join in the fun! Experience the true meaning of giving this holiday season. This project is for anyone; of any age–so bring your family, friends or just yourselves. Warm Wishes needs volunteers to stuff backpacks and/or distribute them to the homeless. They have items that include gloves, socks, caps, rain ponchos and holiday cards that all need to be put inside 5000 backpacks (StreetPacks). And will then literally distribute them to over 40 agencies that serve the street communities, and go out into the Bay Area streets and shelters to distribute them one on one to homeless people.

Warm Wishes Art Project

Are you a teacher? Warm Wishes needs your help with a special project that will brighten up the lives of the homeless during the Holiday Season. This year, they will be handing out 5,000 backpacks filled with a pair of socks, a scarf, gloves, knit cap, and a rain poncho. Warm Wishes would love to include a holiday card from a local child to warm the heart of the recipient.
The card should say “Warm Wishes” and the FIRST NAME ONLY of the child who makes the card.

Please note: No glitter,  crayons or paint (or anything that will run or come off on  the clothing in the pack). 

Call for more information: 415-472-0211

Send your student’s cards to (or drop them off):

Warm Wishes/MarinLink
5800 Northgate Mall Ste250
San Rafael, CA 94901

Bocce Tournament Fundraiser

Every year Warm Wishes hold its Bocce Invitational fundraiser to benefit the Homeless Holiday Backpack Project.

Warm Wishes ask philanthropists for their support with a Bocce Ball Court Sponsorship and they as businesses to donate items for auction.

All proceeds are then used for the Warm Wishes Street Packs project.


For more information and to volunteer please call Warm Wishes at (415) 472-0211. Visit http://www.warmwishes.org/ .

Lotus Cusine of India got voted Best Indian Restaurant in Marin County by the Bohemian

The North Bay Bohemian is a weekly magazine with news, culture and reviews for Sonoma, Marin and Napa Counties.

In their Best of the North Bay 2012 poll, the Bohemian readers agree that Lotus Cuisine of India is THE BEST Indian Restaurant.

Congrats to Lotus Cuisine of India and thanks to all the Bohemian readers who voted for Lotus!


http://www.bohemian.com/northbay/best-of-2012-food-and-drink/BestOf?oid=2282669

Renaissance Marin is a nonprofit small business development center assisting Marin County small business

Renaissance Marin opened their offices in San Rafael in 2012. Renaissance Marin is a project of Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center dedicated to starting & growing local small businesses.

Mission

The mission of Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center is to empower and increase the entrepreneurial capacities of socially and economically diverse women and men, and thereby strengthen our communities through the creation of sustainable new businesses, new jobs, and the promotion of financial self-sufficiency.

Launched in partnership with the Marin Community Foundation, Renaissance Marin provides critical access to training, resources and support services designed to help aspiring and established entrepreneurs achieve their dreams of small business success and financial independence.

Whether you are a retailer, designer, manufacturer, contractor or bookkeeper — in the startup or expansion phase — Renaissance Marin will provide you with the training, tools, resources and networks needed to create your own thriving business.

Located at 1115 Third Street in San Rafael, Renaissance Marin provides office space in our small business incubator as well as drop in co-working space.

Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center

Launched in 1985, Renaissance has served tens of thousands of clients in a wide range of industries – from food, fashion and graphic design to education, technology and healthcare.

We offer small business training and resources at four locations:

• Renaissance SoMa, San Francisco (headquarters)
• Renaissance Bayview, San Francisco
• Renaissance Mid-Peninsula, East Palo Alto
• Renaissance Marin, San Rafael

SERVICES:

Classes & Workshops

Renaissance’s intensive business planning and introductory business classes will assist business owners in developing the marketing, finance, operations and management skills needed to write a comprehensive business plan and put you on your path to entrepreneurial success.

Advanced classes and workshops will hone your business skills. Both classes and workshops will give the opportunity to learn from successful small business owners, industry experts, graduates and your peers.

Business Incubator

Business Incubator provides both emerging and established small business owners with a vibrant and supportive community of peers and professionals.

They offer low cost office space, professional consultations tailored to business’ needs, conference rooms and building services to support the daily operations and growth.

Renaissance Marin’s building hosts 11 small businesses in a professional and supportive entrepreneurial community designed to help businesses grow and prosper. Tenants benefit from a full menu of amenities and services.

Consulting

At Renaissance Marin you will meet other business owners and industry experts who will guide, support and inspire entrepreneur in achieving their business goals.

Commercial Kitchen

Open Workspace

The Open Work Space is a collaborative community of entrepreneurs and those seeking a cross pollination of ideas to improve their concepts whether for business startups, community projects or personal development.

For more information about classes and business opportunity visit http://rencentermarin.org or call (415) 348-6300.

Go Native! Chef John Farais from indigenousedibles.com to appear at Guest Chef in Oakland from Oct 9 - 21, 2012.

Have you heard of Guest Chef? Guest Chef is a restaurant in Oakland that invites different chefs to cook there. Guest Chef will be featuring chef John Farais for two weeks from Oct 9 through 21 to introduce his very own native edible food menu.

John Farais is a Marin County chef, lecturer, and cooking instructor with a very unique passion. He is one of the few, if not the only, Bay Area chefs who specialize in the history, taste, and promotion of The Americas’ indigenous edible plants. John uses ingredients that are native to The Americas, both North and South America. 

Although his cooking incorporates American Indian techniques, it is not necessarily American Indian cuisine, nor is John a Native American. John's company is aptly called INDIGENOUS EDIBLES.

John taught himself the natural history of California Indians, ethno-botany and native anthropology before concentrating on indigenous ingredients as food and native cookbooks. It is his goal as a chef, to help diners rediscover our proud, ancient, history of native edibles. This approach has developed a cuisine that combines the historical natives with contemporary tastes, discovering a Real “California Cuisine”.

John has lectured for Slow Food, Oakland Museum, SFSU, College of Marin and California native Garden Foundation. 

John has also cooked for Carlo Petrini, the creator of Slow Food International, Actor Peter Coyote, Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, and many private clients in Sonoma, Marin, San Francisco, and San Jose.

John is a board member of the Museum of the American Indian, Slow Food USA, and Chef’s Collaborative. A portion of his proceeds will go to starting a foundation to help Native Americans regain their heritage food ways, through native plant agriculture, and teaching future generations how to grow, cook and eat whole foods.

Guest Chef is located at 5337 College Ave, Oakland, CA
telephone:  (510) 658-7378
website:  www.theguestchef.net
John Farais is online at www.indigenousedibles.com

CERT Advanced Training: October 13th - Refresher & Exercise - FREE‏

Are you CERT CERTified?

CERT is the Community Emergency Response Team. It consists of volunteers who assist the Fire Department and Emergency Response professionals in case of any major disasters. We encourage all our readers to take a CERT class and BE PREPARED!

If you are a CERT member in Marin County then this announcement is for you:

 

One of the most consistent comments that we receive after CERT Basic Training is that students would like more hands on exercises, especially in first aid and search & rescue. 

We are pleased to invite you to our third Marin County CERT Advanced Training for 2012, which will be held Saturday, October 13th, in   San Rafael from 9 am-3 pm. Our training will be held at the old McPhail School off San Pedro Rd., a great location for a simulated disaster!

The exercise will host fire department personnel, emergency management staff and CERT volunteers, who will conduct three refresher mini-sessions in the morning and two disaster simulations in the afternoon. Participants will be able to practice and review basic skills and work as teams during the simulations.

Please check out a brief description of the day, which we've included below. Advance registration is requested so we have enough staff for our exercises. We are limiting participation to 50 so sign up today!  There is a place for everyone in CERT and in this exercise.

 

Oct. 13, 2012 

9:00 am      Check-in and welcome

9:30-10:30   Disaster Medical Operations

10:30-10:40  Break

10:40-11:25  Search & Rescue

11:30- 11:55 CERT Organization (how to work as teams)

12:00-12:30  Lunch  Bring Your Own

12:50- 3:00  Simulations 1 & 2

2:45-3:00    debriefing & thank you's; check-out

Let us know if you'd like to volunteer to help on the day of the exercise.

 

We hope to see you on October 13th!

 

For more information or to register: 

415-485-3409

coordinator@marincountycert.org

www.marincountycert.org

Need a manufacturer & supplier of superior quality beef & chicken for the Philly Cheesesteak? Ask Liberty Bell Steak Co.!

Over 25 years old and going strong, Liberty Bell Steak Co. has been producing excellent quality beef chip steaks for what is widely known as the famous “Philly Cheesesteak”. Philly Cheesesteak is the favorite of millions of people, not only in Philadelphia but all over the US. Liberty Bell prides itself in offering “The  Real Authentic Philly Steak Sandwich Meat” for the meal that has become a Philadelphia institution.

People enjoy the true taste of Philly with Liberty Bell Steaks. Liberty Bell offers a variety of steaks of both beef as well as chicken, in a number of portion sizes and bulk packaging that will suit any customer’s menu. They do private labeling and can provide customized packaging for the customers.

Company History

Gus Pahides founder of Liberty Bell Steak was an independent food service distributor and looking to expand his family owned business. In 1986 he started Liberty Bell Steak Co. in order to better serve his customers with the best steak meat in the city. Today, Liberty Bell Steak Co. is headed by President and CEO John Vellios who has experienced continued growth and expansion over the years. Liberty Bell Steak Co. is recognized as an industry leader with distributors throughout the U.S and Canada.

Liberty Bell Steak Co. is a Federal USDA inspected facility that maintains the highest degree of quality control standards for their product.  The steaks are made from the choicest cuts of solid-muscle domestic steer beef.  They demand superior standards and consistency from the meat suppliers, with whom they have built strong and reliable relationships. It is their belief that business starts and ends with the customer and the success depends on meeting those needs best they can.

About Philly Cheesesteak

The foundation of their business is the flavorful sandwich steaks.  But when potential customers want to know what makes Liberty Bell Steak superior to the competitors, they promise these differentiators: 

• dependability and flexibility for the customers
• efficiency, proficiency, and rich Philly history
• NEVER compromise the quality

For a list and description of available Philly Cheesesteak refer to the Liberty Bell Steak product sheet and website at http://www.libertybellsteak.com or call tel. 215-537-1256.

What's a Tandoor or Tandoori?

Tandoori Chicken is a spicy roasted chicken made in a Tandoor and seasoned with spicy yogurt and curry based sauce. Tandoori or Tandoor is an earthen oven used in India. It usually gets very hot, around 800 F, inside it. Tandoor barrel-shaped and run by using coal which burns at the bottom and heats clay interior.

The best substitute for Tandoor will be a closed charcoal grill. You can also use an oven, but it should be your last resort.

Tandoori Chicken is also spelled as Tanduri chicken or Tandori Chicken.

Ingredients:

10 pieces of chicken (drumsticks and/or breast with skin removed)
1 cup plain yoghurt
Spices:
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon red chilli powder (adjust according to preference)
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 tablespoon garlic paste
1 tablespoon ginger paste
1 tablespoon cumin powder
½ tablespoon mustard
½ tablespoon garam masala powder

Optional Spices:

A few pods of cardamom, a pinch of saffron, salt to taste

Note: You can also buy ready-made Tandoori Chicken Spice mixture or paste in any South Asian store or ethnic sections of big grocery store.

Preparation:

1. Mix all spices with yogurt and butter to make marinating sauce.
2. Prick the chicken and apply the sauce. Cover chicken and marinate overnight inside a refrigerator (at least 4 hrs).
3. Grill the chicken in regular way. (For better result, apply melted butter to the chicken just before you grill.)
4. Cook chicken until brownish (or way you prefer)
5. Serve sliced onion (ring) and lemon wedges with the tandoori chicken. Lemon juice can be sprinkled on the cooked chicken to add zesty flavor.

Indian restaurant Taj of Marin is located at 909 4th Street San Rafael, CA. 94901 Tel #: (415) 459-9555